le sad: akiko morigami will retire this year

A TSF reader tipped us off about Akiko Morigami‘s retirement from professional tennis, announced yesterday. She is playing in the first round against Anastasia Rodionova at this week’s HP Japan Open in Osaka, her hometown (draw). This is her last WTA tournament and will play the All-Japan Tennis Tournament in November.

Above is a photo of Akiko practicing with HP Japan Open top seed Caro Wozniacki.

While Morigami might not have made any splashes with her game — she only one 1 title (Prague, 2007) — Morigami gets props for her awesome display of Fila Japan’s flirty and whimsical clothes.

We don’t expect her to pull a HingDavenKimHenin, so we’ll end it here: so long, Akiko!